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. 2020 Sep-Oct;13(5):523-528.
doi: 10.5005/jp-journals-10005-1821.

A Comparative Evaluation of Efficacy of Electronic Apex Locator, Digital Radiography, and Conventional Radiographic Method for Root Canal Working Length Determination in Primary Teeth: An In Vitro Study

Anchal Sahni  1 , Rishabh Kapoor  1 , Kapil Gandhi  1 , Dipanshu Kumar  1 , Geetika Datta  1 , Ritika Malhotra  1
Affiliations

A Comparative Evaluation of Efficacy of Electronic Apex Locator, Digital Radiography, and Conventional Radiographic Method for Root Canal Working Length Determination in Primary Teeth: An In Vitro Study

Anchal Sahni et al. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent. 2020 Sep-Oct.

Abstract

Aim: Pulpectomy in the primary tooth has unique challenges due to morphological variations in root pattern and physiological root resorption. The electronic apex locator (EAL) is one of the recent methods to determine the estimation of working length without much radiation exposure to the patient as well as the operator. The present study was undertaken for evaluating and comparing the efficacy of EAL, conventional radiography, digital radiography, and actual visual method for the estimation of in the root canal working length (RCL) in extracted primary teeth.

Materials and methods: Ninety extracted, single-rooted primary teeth were selected. Working length estimation was done with an EAL, conventional, and digital radiographic method, and compared it with an actual visual method.

Results: Accuracy of EAL was observed to be 99.7% followed by digital radiograph (98.1%) and conventional radiograph (96.1%). Both EAL and digital radiographic methods showed a high correlation as compared to conventional. The comparative efficacy of an EAL with a visual method was found to be statistically non-significant (p > 0.005).

Conclusion: Root canal working length determined through the electronic method was found to be an accurate and effective tool in single-rooted primary teeth and can be indicated for clinical implementation in endodontic treatment of primary teeth.

How to cite this article: Sahni A, Kapoor R, Gandhi K, et al. A Comparative Evaluation of Efficacy of Electronic Apex Locator, Digital Radiography, and Conventional Radiographic Method for Root Canal Working Length Determination in Primary Teeth: An In Vitro Study. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2020;13(5):523-528.

Keywords: Digital radiograph; Electronic apex locator; Primary tooth; Working length.

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Conflict of interest statement

Source of support: Nil Conflict of interest: None

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Working length estimation with electronic apex locator
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
File length measurement using a digital Vernier caliper
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Jig design
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Working length estimation with digital radiograph
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Working length estimation with conventional radiograph using the jig
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Comparison of root length measurements among groups
Fig. 7
Fig. 7
Intergroup comparison among different groups
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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